Women’s soccer season comes to bittersweet end
November 17, 2011
By David Schuh
In a season where they were picked in the preseason to finish second-worst in the SEC, they worked tirelessly to show everyone that they were legitimate contenders.
“It’s hard for me to explain the amount of work that has been done to prepare for this moment,” head coach Jon Lipsitz said. “It’s unbelievable. The excitement I saw made me realize how much it means to everybody.”
After losing Saturday in the NCAA first round to Washington State, UK finished the season with a record of 13-7-1. Good for a sixth place finish in the SEC, the Cats received an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2006.
Senior Kelsey Hunyadi finished the season with 38 points, the most by a UK player since 1999.
Including Hunyadi, the Cats lose three seniors, only two of which saw consistent playing time this season (Hunyadi and Kiondra McGee). With all the returning talent combined with an incoming freshman recruiting class, there is a lot of reason to be encouraged going forward.
“I’m very excited about the future of this program,” Lipsitz said. “Obviously I can’t talk about specifics, but we’re very excited about our classes coming in. But one of the reasons we’re so excited about the future is because of how far we’ve come this year.”
